Electrical connector assemblies for making large numbers of interconnections are used extensively in the electrical connector industry, such as for use in computers and other similar electronic devices. The connector configurations and sizes vary considerably, and connectors for making twenty-six or more connections are very common. Each connection may be made by inserting a male pin terminal into a female terminal or socket, or by joining other types of mating terminals. Usually, the connector assemblies include two components, namely a header member and a connector member which is removably plugged into the header member. The header member may be mounted on a printed circuit board or other electronic element, and the connector member may be terminated to the end of a multiconductor cable.
Electrical connector assemblies of the type described above are well known in the art and include such features as means to assist the mating of the header and connector members with one another. In particular, it is desirable that such a feature be able to retain the connector member in mating relationship with the header member or, selectively, eject the connector member from the header member.
Examples of such latch/eject electrical connector assemblies are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,070,081; 4,105,275; 4,168,877; 4,410,222; 4,447,101; 4,469,388; 4,579,408; 4,640,565 and 4,761,141. The 4,410,222 patent to Enomoto et al., dated Oct. 18, 1983, is assigned to the assignee of this invention.
Although the various connector assemblies shown in the prior art enumerated above generally have been effective for their intended purposes, they all illustrate a common ejecting mechanism which comprises a relatively short eject arm which engages only the end of the connector housing usually at a single point of engagement. Such eject arms place a considerable limitation on the overall length of the connector to be ejected due to lateral bending of the connector. Of course, the length of the connector inherently limits the number of connections or terminals. In other words, since most of the connectors are held in the pin header by frictional engagement between the female terminals carried by the connector and the male pins in the header, there is substantial force which must be overcome during the unmating operation. Short eject arms with single point engagement limit the length of the connectors, the number of connections and the materials available for use in fabricating the connector.
This invention is directed to solving the problems outlined above by providing a novel eject mechanism which has a relatively long moment arm configured to provide a more effective moment arm function to accommodate longer connectors with more terminal connections.